March 29, 2013

Peanut butter has been on my to do list for a very long time now. I love peanuts but could not relate how it will taste as a spread. Peanut Butter is extremely popular in the United States. I have seen people not only using it as a spread for their bread, but using it as a dip for fruits and what not. Shweets will have a choice of peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch when they serve meat. She would not eat it and would say she does not like that and I started to send lunch from home when they had PBJ. This totally held me back from trying to make the peanut butter at home. But one of my friend had asked for this recipe and I wanted to try it when possible atleast for her sake. When I saw a Chocolatey version of the peanut butter then I thought it will taste something similar to Nutella and instantly tried it !!

Chocolate Peanut Butter is super easy to make. Will you believe it hardly took 5 minutes to whip up a spread that would last for the entire week, yes it did.
When you make something like this at home kids usually like it and are thrilled. You can prepare and place it at room temperature. But I did place it in the refrigerator. It got slightly solidified but bringing back to room temperature made it easy to spread. If you do not have the time to bring it back to room temperature then just take out the amount of peanut butter you need and microwave for about 5 - 10 secs for it reach the spreadable consistency. You can enjoy it with your bread or use it as a dip for apples or any fruit for that matter. Choices are plenty use it as you wish.

Wash and dry an airtight bottle or any container to store the peanut butter.

Method

Add the roasted peanuts to the bowl of a food processor.

Process on high power for about 2 minutes. The peanut first will get crushed, then powdered. At this stage add the chocolate chips, vanilla extract and
continue to process on high power.

The powdered peanuts will start to turn into a thick paste and then it will form a ball and finally the oil from the peanuts will be released and the peanut butter will become thinner.

When the peanut butter reaches the consistency which took about 5 minutes totally, Transfer the peanut butter to a clean, dry and airtight bottle.

Notes

I used roasted, slightly salted peanuts. You can also use honey roasted, unsalted peanuts.

If you do not have the food processor, you can also use your mixer jar for grinding.

I refrigerated the butter and because of the chocolate it got hardened. You leave it in room temperature for 15 - 20 minutes to get softened or take the need amount in a small cup and microwave for about 10 seconds to reach spreadable consistency.

March 23, 2013

There are some dishes you always think it is better to get from outside and it will not turn out perfect when it is made at home. I have many friends complaining
about the texture of the homemade pakodas. They are not as crispy as the ones in the famous joints. I always like my pakoda super crispy and slightly darker in shade. Back at my Mom's place there was a sweet shop where they would make fresh pakodas in the evenings. The place will be crowded and everyone would ask for bigger pieces. I would be the odd one asking for small sized ones or the thool pakoda that are fried little longer. It is an awesome evening snack with some hot coffee or tea on a rainy day.

The simple secret behind crispy pakodas is you should add any water to the onion, flour mixture. By keeping aside for about 20 minutes, onion and salt would release water which would be more than sufficient to bind everything together. Addition of water makes it soggy. I normally prefer to use the red onions because they give the exact flavor we get in stores. Also you have to eat them as soon it is made else it will become slightly soggy and will not taste the best. You can adjust the spice level as per your taste buds. If you like the flavor of fennel seeds you can add little to the mixture. Why wait try to make this super easy evening snack and pep up your coffee time.

March 16, 2013

Last week was a hectic one. We had visa interview scheduled for my MIL and were going back and forth on the documents and interview questions. Finally she has got the visa and all set to visit us for the first time. We are eagerly waiting for her to come here. She was born and brought up in Chennai and her style of cooking is totally different from my mother who is from Coimbatore. I have learnt a lot dishes from her and I'm excited to learn more during her visit. Back at my place we were not sweet lovers. The only sweets we could agree upon were the jaggery based ones. So my mom hardly made sugar based sweets. Even if she makes it would be for the guests. Rava Kesari is one dish my MIL makes for kirthigai. She will make so many varieties that day and everything would taste out of the world. After I got married, MK influenced me so much and I started to like what all I never dared to try. Rava Kesari was one of them.

Rava Kesari, simply called as kesari is one of the most easiest Indian sweet recipe. It can be prepared with the simple ingredients available in any Indian Pantry. It takes less than 15 minutes to make this sweet and it will also vanish in minutes, no doubt about that. It is one of the most common sweet that will be made in any Indian household. But there are some tricks you need to know to get the correct consistency, texture and taste. Too much sugar or water or ghee would spoil the taste. We normally add orange food color to this sweet I don't know why. If you have unexpected guests and you want to serve them something quick and yummy, Kesari would be the best option. Do try and let me know

March 9, 2013

It's time to celebrate, yes it's been 3 years since I started the blog !! I'm happy when I realize that till today I have same amount of commitment and excitement that I had when I posted my first recipe at "From My Home Kitchen". Blogging has become an important part of my life. Planning, Cooking, Styling, Clicking, Writing, Posting each activity excites me and gives me full satisfaction when I post a recipe. I have learnt so many things after I started the blog. Photography was never my thing, but now I'm totally interested in it and spend a lot of time with my camera. One other great thing is I got so many friends through this blog world, each one of them is special in a way. Everyone would say females normally do not carry their friendship after marriage. It is true with me, but now I have so many blogger friends and I love all of them !!

I thought of making something special to celebrate and decided to make the citrus filled and homey Orange Cake. This has been in my to do list for a very long time and thought this would be a perfect time to make it. The cake was super good and filled the home with the smell of orange. It tasted like the bakery cakes we used to get back in India. I was little doubtful whether the kids would like it as they always prefer chocolate cakes. But my kids loved it so much that the cake disappeared in no time. It turned out to be a perfect celebration cake !!

March 2, 2013

When I was talking to my clients in one of the meetings about breakfasts, I really felt that we are not eating Indian breakfasts nowadays. Actually the real reason is lack of time. I normally grind the Idly Dosa batter during the weekends but to make make some side dish and have it for breakfast is simply impossible. To get the kids ready, feed them and what not in 1 1/2 hr is already stressfu. Kids and me love cereals, bread and pancakes, but MK is not a big fan of all this and wants something Indian. So we need to have some sort of side dish his breakfast, the Idly Milagai Podi comes in handy in these situations.

Idly Milagai Podi can be made in a lot of ways. The one I'm sharing now is easy to make and it is garlic free. Adding few garlic pods to the Idly Milgai Podi gives it a unique flavor. But MK says no when it is for his breakfast. He says that he gets that garlic flavor and does not like it in the morning. So I make one without garlic for him. I will share the garlic flavored Idly Milagai Podi soon. You can enjoy some hot Idly or crispy dosas with these spicy chutney powder. You have to mix it with oil and serve. Sesame oil works best for this. If you are craving for some Indian breakfast on weekday mornings or too tired to whip up something for dinner then spend 15 minutes in the kitchen and make this Idly Milagai Podi and have a stress free week.